Feng Yi was almost frozen solid standing outside the Prince's Manor.
Why hadn't the young lady come out yet!
She regretted not following her inside just now.
The situation with the Third Prince was dire; if anything happened to Ye Liujin, her mistress would be devastated.
Finally, the manor's heavy gates creaked open.
"Let’s go back."
Ye Liujin held a small box in her hands. She brushed past Feng Yi and boarded the carriage with quick, urgent steps.
"Miss?"
Coming to her senses, Feng Yi lifted the carriage curtain, her face lighting up with joy. "You got it?"
"Mhm."
Ye Liujin lowered her eyes, looking at the box in her hands. Inside was the Seven-Star Leaf.
Feng Yi was overjoyed. Asking no further questions, she leaped onto the carriage.
The carriage galloped toward the palace, and the Seven-Star Leaf was rushed to Taihe Hall.
As Xiao Cong’s condition had already stabilized, no one went to inform Emperor Liang.
Ye Liujin saw Lady Rong kneeling off to the side, her hair disheveled and in disarray. She spoke in a leisurely tone, "Lady Rong, you truly are… concerned about the Third Prince."
Even if Consort Chen were slow-witted, she could now see that something was unusual between Lady Rong and Xiao Cong.
Seeing that Xiao Cong was out of danger, she gritted her teeth and ordered her subordinates to take Lady Rong to Guanju Palace.
In the dead of night, Guanju Palace was brightly lit.
Consort Chen slammed her hand against the table. "Rong Shuiyue, what exactly do you think you're doing?"
"You are Cong'er's stepmother and His Majesty’s consort. To go to Taihe Hall late at night, a man and a woman alone together—how will you ever show your face again if word of this gets out!"
Standing to the side, Ye Liujin added fuel to the fire.
"Though His Majesty is no longer in his prime, for you to flirt so brazenly with a prince is… perhaps not quite right, wouldn't you say?"
"Besides, the Third Prince is enamored with the young and beautiful Rong Chan. While you may still have your charms, you are, after all, getting on in years."
After speaking, she looked Lady Rong up and down.
Lady Rong knelt stiffly on the floor, her face devoid of color. Her breathing became rapid and her voice trembled, "No, it's not like that."
Xiao Cong… Xiao Cong was her son!
How could she possibly…
Lady Rong was both anxious and enraged; a surge of blood rushed to her head.
Ye Liujin watched her shifting, dramatic expressions with cold eyes, feeling a sense of profound satisfaction.
"Not like that? Then what is it like?" she asked casually. "Could it be that you have some secret grievance?"
Lady Rong had a bitter secret she could not voice. Seeing Consort Chen’s dark expression and Ye Liujin’s relentless badgering, her stifled fury turned into a mouthful of blood. She spat it out and collapsed backward onto the floor.
"Ah—"
Ye Liujin’s cry of alarm sent Guanju Palace into a frenzy of activity.
One group of servants escorted Lady Rong back to Feishuang Hall, while another went to summon the imperial doctors.
Although Consort Chen disliked Lady Rong, it would be difficult to explain to His Majesty if she died right after being carried out of Guanju Palace.
Feng Yi handled all the arrangements with composure, not forgetting to have servants attend to the aunt and niece as they prepared for bed.
"There is definitely something wrong here."
Consort Chen removed her hairpins and jewelry, the more she thought about it, the more suspicious she became.
After the age of ten, Ye Liujin had her own small courtyard, but that didn't stop her from frequently pestering Consort Chen to let her sleep in her quarters.
"I heard that back when you were pregnant, Aunt, Lady Rong was also with child?"
"Mhm," Consort Chen sat down on the edge of the bed, recalling the past. "Unfortunately, she miscarried at only three months."
Ye Liujin feigned surprise. "How long was it after that until you saw her again?"
"It was the height of summer then, so His Majesty sent her to the summer palace to recover. She didn't return until… until the end of the year was near."
So that was it. Emperor Liang had sent her to the summer palace not to recover, but to hide the pregnancy and birth.
"Why do you ask?"
Consort Chen cast a sideways glance at her, her expression odd.
“Aunt,” an indescribably complex look flickered in Ye Liujin’s eyes. “Perhaps Xiao Cong is not your son at all.”
“He is Rong Shuiyue’s son.”
The bedchamber fell into an eerie silence.
After a long while, Consort Chen finally placed her hand on Ye Liujin’s forehead. “You child, talking such nonsense. Are you perhaps ill?”
Ye Liujin had long expected this reaction.
Earlier tonight at Yu Wangfu, Xiao Zhaoyan had said, “You should tell Consort Chen directly.”
She had voiced her concerns, but Xiao Zhaoyan shook his head with a lonely expression. “You underestimate a mother.”
“You only thought of how Consort Chen wouldn’t want to believe Xiao Cong isn’t her son, but you didn’t consider that she would search for the truth for the sake of the child who is now missing.”
“Besides, the people of your Ye Family are reserved, but never weak.”
Ye Liujin suddenly grabbed Consort Chen’s hand, her expression solemn.
“Aunt, think carefully about Rong Shuiyue’s every move over these years. Is there truly nothing suspicious?”
“And her various actions today were extremely abnormal. If Xiao Cong weren’t her son, how else could any of this be explained?”
“Do you really believe she and Xiao Cong are entangled in some illicit affair? You don’t even believe that yourself.”
“Rong Chan is her niece. For Xiao Cong to marry Rong Chan would be a monumental benefit to the Rong family, yet she tried her best to block it. Why is that?”
The answer was obvious.
Yet Consort Chen tried forcefully to pull her wrist away. She did not believe it.
How could the child she carried for ten months and gave birth to have become Rong Shuiyue’s son?
Suddenly, a flash of white light crossed her mind.
If Xiao Cong was Rong Shuiyue’s child, then… then what about the child she had carried for ten months and brought into the world?
“Impossible, it’s impossible.”
Consort Chen’s body went stiff, her chest heaving up and down.
“I gave birth to the child in Guanju Palace. His Majesty was also present at the time. Who would be so bold as to surreptitiously swap one for another…”
Her heated words stopped abruptly as her eyes widened in disbelief.
A hint of sarcasm touched Ye Liujin’s voice. “Perhaps that person is His Majesty himself.”
Seeing Consort Chen’s wretched expression, she pursed her lips and continued, “I have studied painting for many years. When I first began, my master told me that a person’s facial structure and features mostly resemble their parents. Later, once I had mastered the craft, I discovered that Xiao Cong’s features are entirely different from yours, Aunt, but are an exact match to Lady Rong’s.”
“I didn't pay it much mind at first, but Lady Rong’s behavior was simply too abnormal. Only then did I realize the crux of the matter.”
“Aunt, you must believe me!”
Under the flickering candlelight, Consort Chen’s face was deathly pale. She felt a profound sense of exhaustion and desolation in her heart.
The child before her was her own niece, sharing the same bloodline. How could she not believe even a word she said?
Over the years, Rong Shuiyue had indeed used various excuses to visit Guanju Palace time and again, sitting for hours and subtly inquiring about Xiao Cong.
Initially, Consort Chen had only thought that because Rong Shuiyue had lost her own child, she was exceptionally fond of hers.
But now, she was actually being asked to suspect that Xiao Cong was Rong Shuiyue’s child.
How desolate and ridiculous.
Seeing Consort Chen’s silence and the shimmering tears in her eyes, Ye Liujin felt a piercing pain in her heart, like a needle prick.
The truth was often this cruel.
“Aunt…”
Ye Liujin couldn't help but start to offer comfort, but Consort Chen beat her to it.
“I will find out exactly what Rong Shuiyue and Xiao Lun are trying to do!”
Xiao Lun was the personal name of Emperor Liang.
Consort Chen squeezed her eyes shut, swallowing back the tears welling within them.
Only the weak and incompetent would spend their days weeping. She was a daughter of the Ye Family, and she was capable of much more than just crying.
As the candlelight flickered, Consort Chen’s usually bright and beautiful face appeared exceptionally pale.
Ye Liujin felt a pang in her nose, but her heart felt exceptionally light.
Xiao Zhaoyan was right; her aunt had the right to know.